The Heretic's Story
by Octane
Summary: Heretic from Halo 2, who lied, how the truth got told, and how there were so many Heretics.Chapter 4 is up, a rather intresting chapter in my opinion.
1. Reassignment

**The Heretic's Story**

_Prologue: _

Nolsüm 'Zaekamae was confused. He'd been in the Covenant army for almost as long as he could remember; He held the highest field operating rank: Ultimate Supreme Commander. But what perplexed him is what in the name of the Forerunners could be more important than the artifacts on the human planet called "Reach." He'd had helped in locating the artifacts; and he knew their significance. Supposedly though the recall order that he'd received just as he was boarding the destroyer _Righteous_ _Vengeance_ were coming directly form the High Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret. If it were a forgery and it was truly not from them, the forger would have to be fed to the Jackals, taking that in to account Nolsüm doubted that possibility.

A two Sangheili honor guards stood outside the Prophets chambers. They took no regard to Nolsüm's polished purple and green armor adorned with a small, dark blue hood and a lengthy black cape, the sign of a Ultimate Supreme Commander, or to the elaborate markings of beautiful Covenant calligraphy on his armor which told the story of his triumphant conquest of the human planet "Harvest," and the recovery of the Forerunner artifacts there, at the beginning of the Covenant-Human war. They showed him respect but they did not pull off the salutations and sudden returns to work, nor did they suddenly straighten their posture. They simply took his weapons, two energy swords, a plasma rifle, as well as six grenades.

The elaborate doors buzzed as they opened in two stages; first the front covering then the main door. Nolsüm stepped in front of the gaze of the Prophets and immediately dropped to one knee.

"Oh, great and wise Prophets of Truth, Mercy, and Regret; what event gives me the pleasure of being in your presence?" Nolsüm nobly and poetically said.

"Quite a day it is; one that shall be remembered by the entire Covenant soon. For today is the day we have found the Forerunners' sacred rings. The Halos will lead us to glorious salvation and make our final steps on the Great Journey!" Mercy said with jubilation rising in his voice.

"But, as all discoveries," Regret began, "it is not always that simple."

"Remember on the planet the Humans call Jericho VII, and a Forerunner data map was taken by the humans?" Mercy said knowing Nolsüm's answer.

"We must never forget for it was a mistake to be learnt from." Nolsüm responded almost robotically.

"Well, it appears they have used this to locate the Sacred Rings before us. Of course that fact must never leave this room." Regret followed up.

"So here we present you with a mission:" Truth said with authority, "assist our small fleet in riding the humans from the Halo. You will take a quick deployment of 2 Corvettes and a prototype Super Corvette. These are the newest and fastest ships in our entire fleet; I believe that you see the urgency."

"Yes, I accept this mission with the most pride imaginable. I shall leave immediately." Nolsüm said as he stood.

As he turned to exit Truth spoke: "Nolsüm, we would tell the information we have told you to no other being in the Covenant, not even another Patriarch or Prophet. You are one of the few creatures we truly trust; do not betray us." This was perhaps the strangest thing that had ever happened to Nolsüm, Prophets were not on a first name basis with anyone, and in that speech Truth had shown compassion and trust, a Prophet was supposed to be emotionless; something was awry.


	2. Rear Supreme Commander

**Aboard Super Corvette **_**Fearless Faith**_

**Slipspace, 10 hours from Halo**

Nolsüm sighed as he looked over the bridge crew; not at the bridge crew, they were the finest in the Covenant, but at the general situation. How could have they let the prophets down so, letting the humans find Halo prior to the Covenant. If it were not so true he'd accuse anyone speaking those words of blasphemy and heresy.

"Tobe," Nolsüm called to a Kig-Yar dressed in a plain headdress and nearly laid out across the navigation controls, "I need to talk to you in private." Nolsüm had little idea what to say, but Tobe was the only one he could really trust with any information. He and Tobe had been friends all their lives, they'd gotten each other through some hard spots and some close calls. The doors opened to a private dining room for the Ship Master and bridge crew, empty now because it was no where near time for a meal.

"You of course haven't been told everything, Tobe." Nolsüm lamented.

"I am a minor Kig-Yar currently ranked as a rear navigations officer; I'm lucky if I know anything." Tobe squawked a little after speaking, the equivalent of something between a snort and a chuckle.

Nolsüm half heartedly smiled then said "That is beside the point, Tobe, you could be a rear supreme commander if you put your mind to it, even higher if the Prophets hath deemed it acceptable. But current matters are upon us both," Nolsüm glanced around the room for any type of camera or recording device and found none. "You must know that this mission is not solely to explore Halo, but to drive the Heretics off it."

"You don't mean?"

"Yes, the humans have beaten us to it."

"By the Forerunners!"

"No, by the Prophets. Something tells me they had a part in the humans getting to Halo, perhaps they want to anchor a fight here, finish them in one last battle, perhaps its something they don't even have fully planned yet, either way it's dangerous, and I have a bad feeling about it. And while you are still view by the bridge crew as a rear navigations officer, by the ground troops your name is being spread as a great military leader who fought the humans on Sigma Octanous. And you are listed in the army as a rear supreme commander, and there are no other full supreme commanders or higher ranks on these ships save myself."

"In other words in the navy I am an RNO but in the army I'm a rear supreme commander, and that means if you die, I'm next in line?"

"I don't want to see any of these Sangheili die because of being leaderless."

"What about the fleet commander? Won't he try to assume control?"

"No, he has the fleet to direct already, he isn't going to want to lead 5000 troops at the same time, especially with a rear supreme commander right there."

"OK."

Tobe then exited the doors and went back to scrutinizing the navigation data. Nolsüm hoped he'd done the right thing, he trusted Tobe, but he'd never put him in control of so much power.


	3. The Oracle

**Aboard Super Corvette **_**Fearless Faith**_

**Slipspace, 10 hours from Halo**

Nolsüm sighed as he looked over the bridge crew; not at the bridge crew, they were the finest in the Covenant, but at the general situation. How could have they let the prophets down so, letting the humans find Halo prior to the Covenant. If it were not so true he'd accuse anyone speaking those words of blasphemy and heresy.

"Tobe," Nolsüm called to a Kig-Yar dressed in a plain headdress and nearly laid out across the navigation controls, "I need to talk to you in private." Nolsüm had little idea what to say, but Tobe was the only one he could really trust with any information. He and Tobe had been friends all their lives, they'd gotten each other through some hard spots and some close calls. The doors opened to a private dining room for the Ship Master and bridge crew, empty now because it was no where near time for a meal.

"You of course haven't been told everything, Tobe." Nolsüm lamented.

"I am a minor Kig-Yar currently ranked as a rear navigations officer; I'm lucky if I know anything." Tobe squawked a little after speaking, the equivalent of something between a snort and a chuckle.

Nolsüm half heartedly smiled then said "That is beside the point, Tobe, you could be a rear supreme commander if you put your mind to it, even higher if the Prophets hath deemed it acceptable. But current matters are upon us both," Nolsüm glanced around the room for any type of camera or recording device and found none. "You must know that this mission is not solely to explore Halo, but to drive the Heretics off it."

"You don't mean?"

"Yes, the humans have beaten us to it."

"By the Forerunners!"

"No, by the Prophets. Something tells me they had a part in the humans getting to Halo, perhaps they want to anchor a fight here, finish them in one last battle, perhaps its something they don't even have fully planned yet, either way it's dangerous, and I have a bad feeling about it. And while you are still view by the bridge crew as a rear navigations officer, by the ground troops your name is being spread as a great military leader who fought the humans on Sigma Octanous. And you are listed in the army as a rear supreme commander, and there are no other full supreme commanders or higher ranks on these ships save myself."

"In other words in the navy I am an RNO but in the army I'm a rear supreme commander, and that means if you die, I'm next in line?"

"I don't want to see any of these Sangheili die because of being leaderless."

"What about the fleet commander? Won't he try to assume control?"

"No, he has the fleet to direct already, he isn't going to want to lead 5000 troops at the same time, especially with a rear supreme commander right there."

"OK."

Tobe then exited the doors and went back to scrutinizing the navigation data. Nolsüm hoped he'd done the right thing, he trusted Tobe, but he'd never put him in control of so much power.

**Aboard Super Corvette **_**Fearless Faith**_

**Slipspace, 2 minutes from Halo**

"Ready for slipspace exit." Fleet Commander Unch 'Tagotee yelled across the intercom.

"Exterior view, full screen. I whish to view the Sacred Ring in all its glory." Nolsüm spoke not directly at any one, but he knew that someone would do it, just as it did. He watched closely as the blur of slipspace dissipated and the gas giant planet filled the frame.

Though only seconds past the Ultimate Supreme Commander was so exited to see the sacred ring it felt like hours. He did his best to keep from trembling with excitement. Finally, the curvature of the planet gave way to the Sacred Ring.

Or, what was left of it. The air seemed to sink down and get cold as the remnants of the ring filled the view. They still glowed hot from the massive explosion that had destroyed the Forerunner artifact.

"We, I have failed." Nolsüm muttered. "Impossible."

"Perhaps," The fleet commander said, "We should scan the remains, see what we can find?"

"Ahhh, is that all we can do?" Nolsüm screamed. "Our long sought after artifact is found destroyed and, and, Dahah!! Just do it, I need to think." Nolsüm walked off the bridge and went to his quarters.

In his elaborate and fanciful quarters Nolsüm thought long and hard for hours on what had happened, and what to do. Eventually, Tobe knocked on Nolsüm's door.

"What?" the USC yelled at the door.

"We've found something, something amazing, almost as amazing as Halo its self!"

"I'm intrigued, what is it?" Nolsüm asked through the door.

"The Oracle. The scanners picked it up and they tractor beamed it in to the main hanger bay; you must come see it for your self."

The doors popped open and the Ultimate Supreme Commander strolled down the corridor to the main hangar with out a word, his capes trailing him followed in short order by Tobe and a few Uggnoy.


	4. The Start of the Covenant Civil War

**Aboard Super Corvette **_**Fearless Faith**_

**In orbit of Halo**

"Ah, hello." The Monitor said lightly.

"O great and holy Oracle," Nolsüm began, "deliver onto me a single iota of your knowledge of the Sacred Rings and the great Forerunners."

"O my! Questions? I would certainly be delighted to answer them all."

The fleet commander cut in, "Who destroyed Halo, and why, what did the humans learn of it."

Nolsüm growled at the out of order fleet commander but did not say a word aloud simply because the FC had asked the same questions he'd of asked, but in a more blunt fashion.

"A great warrior the reclaimer was, and I think we might have even got a long had it not been for his contempt for containment protocol and the wealth of knowledge. But, alas, it seems now he was successful in his last ditch plan to destroy the installation. As for how much information the reclaimers gathered that could only be told by the reclaimer's AI because she was plugged into my main systems for quite some while and could have easily copied most of the data in the Installation's memory units. And lastly as to why the reclaimer ignored protocol and destroyed the installation…" the Oracle thought for nearly a full minute, "I don't know." He finished bluntly.

A general shocked look crossed the faces of everyone in the room, save the USC and Tobe. Nolsüm blinked once and took a breath, then asked the one question that had been gnawing at his mind for a long as he could remember: "If, now, holy Oracle, I may inquire to you; there is something I must know now, and I must know the whole truthful answer to the question. What is the purpose of the Halos?"

"You ask this question as if you expect a long and complicated answer which I am afraid that one does not exist for the purpose of the Installations is very, very simple: in the event of a Flood outbreak, as per containment protocols, the Installations would be activiated, then fired in an effective effort to wipe the galaxy clean of any biomass large enough to sustain the parasite." The Monitor replied, happy to be being asked questions, but tired of having to answer that one in particular.

"Blasphemy!" the Fleet Commander cried out at the Oracle "This goes against everything the prophets have ever taught us; it defies the very base beliefs of the Covenant! Surly this Oracle could, and must, have been contaminated by the humans. It was certainly close enough to them!"

"O heavens no! I assure you what I speak is the truth and that my programming is eons beyond human capabilities!" the Oracle replied, showing some offense near the end.

"I side with the Oracle." Nolsüm replied to the FC. "I also believe that the hierarchy is corrupt and Truth has set in motion plans to dissolve the council and establish a dictatorship over the Covenant species. The signs are all around us, Truth asking for more wartime powers when he truly doesn't need them, repeatedly sending Mercy and Regret off on dangerous missions, hoping for them to perish, and the long election process for a new high prophet would take a very long time, and Truth could easily seize all power. And now look; the prophets have been leading us for millennia on a so called 'Great Journey' which now appears nothing more than a trail to slaughter. I had planned this for years, and I have carefully watched the government of the Covenant, and I now propose that we, all multifarious races of the old Covenant form an Allegiance of Beings, and reinterpret the ancient prophecies, and reexamine the Humans as intelligent beings, and give true freedom to all, not just freedom based on rank or race, we will tear down the hierarchy, govern ourselves by democracy, and be free of the Prophets wills."

"Nolsüm 'Zaekamae, you are a traitor to the Covenant and a heretic. Your words bring pain to my ears at such accusations, the Covenant is fine and to say something in the face of the Prophets is unthinkable. Especially an Ultimate Supreme Commander such as your self, in such high respect with the Prophets and you would throw that all away for nothing, a stupid suspicion based on assumptions and words."

"No, not for nothing, for freedom." Nolsüm said just loud enough to hear.

"I will slay you now and once the prophets hear of this they will give me your rank and more!" the fleet command suddenly brandished an energy sword and swung and Nolsüm's head.

Nolsüm was faster though, he grabbed his sword as swung it to block. Red, white, blue, and even violet hot sparks flew from the crash of blades. As each of the two swordsmen drew their blades back for another blow, the rest of the unruly crowd that had gather around the Oracle began a Covenant civil war right there in the landing bay. The rival swordsmen fought through the close range fray, swinging at who ever seemed to be on the other's side, but it was so hard to tell, who knew who was really who.

The one verses one battle raged toward the door that Nolsüm and Tobe had entered. The doors opened with a hum as the clash continued.

Authors Notes:

Just in Case you were wondering, you pronounce the name 'Tobe' Tuh-oh-buh, similar to Tobey, but with out the ending letter. And the name Nolsüm as Noh-ol-suh-oo-em.


End file.
